March 2007

Saturday, 31 March 2007

There's really something about cute French girls... When I first saw Prototypes,
I quickly checked out what they sounded like, it really blew me away.
The accompanied picture only shows Isabelle Le Doussal, they are, in
fact, a three-piece band consisting of Isabelle, Stephane Bodin and
Francois Marche.

Although the band
was formed in 2003 in France (probably in Paris?), they have only
really barely hit the US market in 2006 with their self-titled album.
The US album consists of their previous French releases, Tout le Monde Cherche Quelque Chose (2004) and Mutants Mediatiques (2006).

So based on the few songs I have from them, I really like "Je Ne Te Connais Pas", which translate to "I do not know you".

Friday, 30 March 2007

I had to explain the story behind Negativland to a friend recently, when I discovered the original U2 single in a CD collection. I told her that it was quite rare (I just checked the numbers, there's roughly about 7,000 copies were sold).

So, the story that was told to me, back in the 90s, was that Negativland was sued by Island Records for unauthorized usage of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" sample, as well as misleading the single as a U2 release. So upon release, the single was immediately pulled from store shelves, and the value of the CD went through the roof. It even spawned some bootleg singles, so be careful when buying on ebay!

The "song" itself wasn't that inspiring, it just features samples of "I Still..." and "America's Top 40" host Casey Kasem foul-mouthed-rant. If you're easily offended by the word "sh*t" and "godd*mn", then please avoid listening to the song. Negativland made their song available for download on their website under the The Forbidden Single section.

Trivia: The Guns single was released shortly after their run-in with the lawyers, which had nothing to do with the U2 single, but featured a very similiar artwork. You can read more details about this controversial story over at foetusized.org

There is also a CD called THESE GUYS ARE FROM ENGLAND AND WHO GIVES A SH*T on the suspiciously-named Seelard Records which contains the two original mixes plus a number of live performances and variations on the same theme. You can gleefully pay money for it here:www.negativland.com/nmol/cds.html

The other day I was CD shopping and I found the My Favorite EP The Kids Are All Wrong. I decided to get it even though I already have all the songs on it, because My Favorite are one of
my favorite (ha, ha)
lesser-known (I think?), late but great (defunct as of 2005) pop bands.
A Long Island, NY band, I first heard them when a friend's band opened
for them when they played LA back in 2004. I'm usually pretty critical
of opening bands I'd never heard of before but I was pleasantly
surprised by My Favorite. The charming Andrea Vaughn, "shy
chanteuse and synthesizerist," has a sweet voice that goes perfectly
with the melodies woven by the rest of the band. Michael Grace Jr. (who
also sings) and co. seem heavily influenced by new wave/80s bands like
the Smiths
and New Order, and the lyrics often reference saints and the atomic
bomb and Joan of Arc (which appeals to the perpetual teenage girl
living inside of me!), and yes, even Johnny Marr and Morrissey.

I
should have bought their CDs at the show but I had no cash, so I
promptly went online and procured their 2 full-length albums,
Love At Absolute Zero and The Happiest Days Of Our Lives: The Complete Joan of Arc Tapes
(all their EPs compiled on one disc, with a bonus disc of remixes).
Both are excellent albums with very little filler, and I'm kind of sad
that they didn't record more stuff. But then again, at least this way
they never had the chance to suck.

I've included here the song 'Burning Hearts,' the first song off The Kids
EP that reminded me once again of how much I love this band, and
'Homeless Club Kids' which is the song that got me hooked. If you're
interested in more, you can also listen to some songs and clips here.

Thursday, 29 March 2007

Ahaaa crappy recording programs, you will never beat mee!!! Even if I did have to upload the song twice... :o\ Ah well, here's another female fronted pop band for you.

I first heard about Halflight a few years ago when the drummer for one of my favourite bands played on their first EP release. Previously the singer had been the guitarist in a band called Jylt who were supposed to be pretty good until their singer passed away a couple years ago. I ain't saying they're not still good now, just.. you have to wait a few years for the Kurt Cobain effect to kick in, don't ya? Five years, they'll be huge. Or something. Anyway, I guess guitarist Sarah Howells couldnt't wait that long cos she grabbed a few mates, formed a new band and started recording again.

Halflight have come on a little since their first EP. They got their own drummer for a start (Ed: my bad, they're still looking for one :oP ), and during a trip to a radio station we here in England like to call "Unavailable", they recorded this song Worship for BBC Radio Wales. I never heard the original airing but this thing is still available on Last.fm and I loved it the first time I heard it. Make sure to check out their newest stuff on MySpace if you like it.

The Volume CD series is probably best
described as a magazine with a CD soundtrack. They were published from
September 1991 to January 1997, ending at a special 2-disc Volume 17.
Since they are published in the UK, it was generally really expensive
to get them on import (it's not uncommon to find them new at $20 to
$30). What makes them special (besides the cool booklet feature), is
that the tracks are usually demos, alternate version, or remixes,
exclusively on Volume.

Although the
series started off as mostly British indie rock, it was clear that
music in England had started to branch off to two distinctive sounds:
Britpop and Trance/Techno dance. So Trance Europe Express was made in September 1993. It was so successful, it was followed up by three sequels, plus Trance Atlantic, TEXTure (remixes compilation), and Wasted.

I was surprised to find Wasted at Amoeba for $2.95. This is a two-disc (30 songs) that was kind of the techno answer to their Britpop compilation, Sharks Patrol These Waters.

This song I have chosen is Tricky's "You Don't" (sung by Martine). It originally appeared in Volume 10.

Trivia: Tricky appeared as a henchman to Gary Oldman's character in the movie "The Fifth Element" (1997).

Wednesday, 28 March 2007

The Pastels are from Glasgow, Scotland. They've been together since 1982 (!!), their recent works includes the soundtrack to The Last Great Wilderness in 2003 and music production for 12 Stars in November 2006. Currently they are just a trio: Stephen, Katrina, and Aggi.

Don't
let this great duet fool you, I honestly don't think Stephen is a good
singer at all. His voice cracks and whines on their early songs (it's
AWFUL), but for some reason, he's not half-bad on this song, "Nothing
to be Done". I believe that is Annabel (Aggi) singing the girl part -
which reminds me a lot of Hope Sandoval.

PS, I just found out that a band called Love Is All
covered "Nothing to be Done" (their latest EP cover art is in their
profile). Being a cover lover, I really want to hear their version of
it!

Monday, 26 March 2007

Today was really dark and gloomy, which seems to have put me into the mood for The Radio Dept. Their music is quite befitting of this weather... it's shoegazey, melancholy, a bit subdued, but also lush and really well-layered between the vocals, guitar, keyboard, samples, and drum machine.

The Radio Dept. comes from Sweden, and formed in 1995. Interestingly, I've never seen their name written as "The Radio Department", it's always abbreviated as "The Radio Dept." Anyway, they apparently took their name from a gas station/radio repair shop they saw called Radioavdelningen, or "the radio department" in Swedish. They've had many band members come and go, and now consist of Johan (original member), Martin, and Daniel. They've released several singles and E.P.s, and two full-length albums: Lesser Matters (2003) and Pet Grief (2006). If you've read my last post you might know how much I love a good B-side... so the song I'm featuring here is "Deliverance", a B-side from the "This Past Week" E.P. (2005).

For some extra credit I'm including a video for another one of their songs, "Pulling Our Weight", from the "Pulling Our Weight" E.P. (2005). I think it explains why the weather here is so dreary.

I, unfortunately, caught this performance while hanging with my dad. I was both disgusted and amused by it. But, after a second listen, I think it's just plain crap. Nothing too horrifying about this little turd. That would almost be complimentary.

I should admit that I'm no fan of Mexican Regional music, but who is? Millions...

Ok I reeallyy hope I don't mess any of this site up. But knowing me... Vu, you got that backup handy? So I'm gonna post something I just heard on Last.fm. I was gonna post something else but I tried to record it and it messed up and I'm lazy so..

Sia. I heard a track by this artist agges ago in early 2000 with a track called Taken For Granted, which sampled Prokofiev's "Romeo & Juliet". Apparently. Anyway, even though I liked the song I thought it was just some random dance act that'd disappear in a week.

Seven years later, turns out this Sia's an actual person and pretty big in Australia. She didn't just disappear and brought an album out in 2004 called Colour The Small One, minus the samples and club hits and plus a little bit of critical aclaim. I just heard 30 seconds of this track, Numb, from the album and it was enough to make me go find more. It's not the best song ever, goes on a bit too long, but at least it was easy to get hold of :o). Some of the other stuff on the album reminds me of Kimya Dawson's voice. I dunno what else to write. Erm.. Vu... help me...

Hi ! This is vu in California, I'm not on my computer so I can't seem to insert audio on this Safari browser. (Perhaps someone on this blog can edit and add the Luscious Jackson song in this entry for me?)

Not much to report, except I am having a fantastic time. We took a fake band picture (which may or may not get posted here). I bought some CDs, yeah, and hopefully more music and movie shoppings tomorrow...

This Luscious Jackson CD I picked up, Fever in Fever Out, was bought for $2.95 at Amoeba Records in LA. Not much to say for Luscious except that they are out of Philadelphia and have broken up. The band was named after a baseball basketball player, Lucious Brown Jackson.

I believe the singer has a solo album, released last year? I have not really kept up with them, to be honest.

Ahhh... one of my all-time favorite albums. I've posted about it before. Lucious Jackson was actually a basketball player. They added the "s" to Luscious Jackson for the band name. Yes, Jill Cunniff has a solo record out that I haven't heard yet but I keep meaning to pick up. And the band announced they are reforming and working on a new record (a children's record I think), plus a greatest hits is due out. This is the only record I have by them- it was produced by Daniel Lanois, and is just incredible.